


Homecoming

by flightinflame



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Gen, Newt Scamander Goes to Hogwarts, Overprotective Theseus Scamander, Young Newt Scamander
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 03:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10800762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: Theseus gets an urgent call to come home, so that he can be waiting to welcome Newt back after getting expelled from Hogwarts





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt: http://fantasticbeasts-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/459.html?thread=914379#cmt914379

Theseus Scamander was a junior auror now, and he had seen his fair share of horrific sites, memories of curse victims that kept him awake at night and crime reports that made him want to be sick. He had finished his probation, and been partnered with an older auror called McEwan who had a strong Scottish accent and a habit of telling dirty jokes. Mortimer, their immediate boss, would tell the two of them that he had created a monster by allowing them to meet, but they didn't care because they had fun together. Theseus learned how to compartmentalise his concerns and to do his job, and if his nights were haunted by memories of what he had seen, well, he could be certain he was fixing things.

He was twenty one. He'd graduated Hogwarts with top marks in what mattered (Duelling, Defence and Potions), and scraping passes in everything else, and since then he had seen all kinds of horrors and learned how to deal with them. Until that was, he found himself faced with this current horror. His parents had called him over for breakfast this morning, and he had arrived with an easy grin which faded when he saw their expressions. He swallowed and licked his lips before he looked up at them nervously.  
"Who has died?" He asked, even as his heart began to flutter faster in his chest, screaming an answer to him. 

"No one." His mother, Rebecca, said softly. Looking closer, he could see that she had been crying, and that left him feeling a little sick. Rebecca was his mother, and she shouldn't have been upset. He felt like he had failed her somehow. Vincent, his father, reached across the table to hold his hand, and Theseus realised that whatever was coming would be serious. And there was only one person it could be about.

"What happened to Newt?" He asked. His mind filled with images - his brother lying broken in the forbidden forest, having strayed too close to a dangerous tree. His brother floating in the lake. His brother falling down the stairs after a shove from a class mate. His brother's body lying lifeless in his dorm room.  
Rebecca rested her hand on his as well.  
"Newt's been expelled." She said softly. "We got the letter last night. Vincent and I need to go and speak to the head teacher, see if he might be willing to compromise. We need you to speak to Newt."

"Why?" Theseus asked, when the room had stopped spinning. His brother was a good student. He worked hard. He was driven by his love of creatures, and generally managed to rise above the goading of the other students in his class. "Because whatever they've told you, we all know Newt. He isn't the kind to get into fights."

"One of his creatures nearly killed someone." Rebecca said softly. "I'm afraid that Hogwarts has asked your father and I to attend meetings spread out over three days - to see what alternative provision can be put in place. There have been mentions of Durmstrang."  
"No!" Theseus snapped. He'd worked with a couple of Durmstrang old boys in his work as an auror, and he knew that they were all tough and fearless, the kind to tear Newt to shreds without looking back. It wouldn't even be intentional. They would just be themselves, and it would destroy Newt worse than anything Hogwarts had ever thrown at him.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Rebecca asked, and he nodded.   
"Of course I am. You know Newt." His parents exchanged glances, and then nodded slowly.  
"Alright." Rebecca said after a moment. "We won't suggest Durmstrang. But maybe we can find a way for him to keep his wand. He's nearly finished his fifth year and he's been getting good marks in Herbology, potions and some parts of Defence. It might be enough to save him."

Theseus paused. "So you're abandoning his education, accepting them throwing him out, and you won't even be there to see him when he comes home?"  
"We don't want to." Vincent said quickly. "But Headmaster Black was quite insistent. He won't allow Newt to stay. And if we don't support him now, it will be his entire future that's destroyed."

Theseus nodded, and wrote a quick note.  
"I'm going to send an owl to work and tell them that a family emergency has come up. They'll probably understand. I won't be the first to turn around and say I can't go in and they normally have their pulse on all of the rumours."  
"Thank you." Vincent murmured, and Rebecca nodded before cuddling him close for a moment. Normally Theseus would have protested, arguing that he was too old for that. But today he was only too aware that he needed his parents to support him. Together, they might be able to keep Newt safe.

"Let him know that we still love him okay? He'll be at Kings Cross soon enough, and we know we can trust you to look after him. Please don't let us down."  
"I won't." Theseus said, squaring his jaw and looking across at both of his parents. "I'll take care of Newt, I promise." He gazed into their eyes, his expression shining with determination.  
"We know." Vincent said softly, and Rebecca nodded. "We wouldn't have called you back now if we didn't. He needs you. He trusts you."   
"Then I'd best be going." Theseus said, quickly apparating away from the two of them and getting to the station. 

He pushed through the barrier, making his way to the platform where he had waved Newt off to school only a couple of weeks before. He sighed after a moment, sitting down on the bench to wait. He remembered Newt's nerves when he first went off to Hogwarts. Theseus had sat beside him on the coach that first day, heading into his final year. He had felt sick, afraid. He had known his brother was different. But he had lied, told Newt that everything would be fine, that he would make a success of it.

The train slowly pulled into the station before one of the doors opened, and a single small figure stepped out. Newt's body was curled in on itself. He looked small, frightened. He was swamped by the station, and the train slowly made its way back along the track, leaving Newt alone. Newt looked up at Theseus as he slowly walked along the platform, dragging a giant suitcase behind him. He seemed relieved when he saw Theseus there, racing forwards and wrapping his arms around him. Theseus rubbed his back after a moment, feeling Newt sobbing against his shoulder, the tears soaking through his robes. He didn't pull him away, knowing that Newt needed this, needed to be held. He cuddled him gently.

Newt sobbed softly, and Theseus wrapped his arms around him again.  
"You have to come home with me." He mumbled.   
"Where are mother and father?"  
"They have gone to try and plead your case."  
"So... so that I can keep my wand?" Newt whispered, his head bowed. 

"They don't know that yet." Theseus answered, arm slung around his shoulder. "But we're all going to fight for you Newt. What happened?"  
Newt hesitated, his face crinkling up the way it always did when he needed to lie. He pursed his lips, then shook his head.   
"Leta and I were keeping a ... we were keeping a pet, just... just a jarvey. It must have escaped or something."

"What did that Lestrange girl get you muddled up in?" Theseus asked, and Newt whimpered and shook his head.  
"Can we go home?" He whispered, and obediently Theseus apparated them both. Once that was done, he turned his attention to his brother. "You can tell me."  
"No..." Newt whispered. "I promised I wouldn't..."

Theseus felt angry, worried that his brother had been taken advantage of by the only friend that he had in that place.  
"Can you at least say why you promised you wouldn't?"  
"Because it wouldn't... I've still got the family. They'll look after me. And I can help mother with the hippogriffs, even if they take my wand. Mother would... she would let me help, wouldn't she?"  
"Of course." Theseus promised, knowing that Newt needed to hear that at that moment. He rubbed his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him.  
"Well then, if what happened could have got us both into trouble. I ... I should..." He swallowed. "I should take all of the blame onto me if I could possibly." Theseus answered. "Because her family would throw her out. They already say she's a disgrace. I couldn't.... I couldn't let anything happen to her." He answered, sighing a little in a sense of despair. 

Theseus swallowed, proud of the fact that Newt was willing to sacrifice himself, but wishing he didn't feel the need to. It wasn't right.   
"You want to go down and check on the hippogriffs?" Theseus asked after a moment. Newt nodded enthusiastically, and Theseus lead him away gently, walking with him to the stables. He reached for Newt's hand, squeezing gently in an attempt to soothe him. His brother sniffled a little.

When he saw the creatures, his eyes lit up at least for a moment, and Newt ran forwards, wrapping his arms gently around the neck of one of the older hippogriffs. It nuzzled his shoulder, and Newt relaxed a little more, taking a slow and delicate breath. It seemed to soothe him a little. 

"You want to talk about the plan?" Theseus asked softly. "I mean, if our parents can't get you back into school."  
"Like I said..." Newt shrugged. "I can help in the stables. Maybe feed the hippogriffs, possibly even show them." He swallowed. "Make mother proud-"  
"Newt." Theseus shook his head. "You know so much about creatures, and ... I'd like you to come to work. I can't promise anything, but McEwan... McEwan, he's my partner, you remember?" Newt nodded, and Theseus relaxed after a moment. "He has said before that it's bad how little people know about creatures. There was a nasty incident the other day, someone didn't realise that the cute kitten they had found was a nundu and they nearly killed a dozen aurors. We only just got lucky-"  
"The nundu?" Newt asked softly.   
"Boxed and sent to a sanctuary." Theseus explained. "We aren't monsters Newt, not if we can avoid being so. I know you think that we don't care about animals, but we don't hate them."   
Newt visibly relaxed, and Theseus managed a faint smile.   
"It would help if we knew more though." Theseus explained. "Either go and talk to the aurors, or you could write down what you know. Make a field guide for creatures. Even without a wand, you can do that for me, can't you?"  
"I can." Newt mumbled, and his spine straightened a little, his eyes shining for a moment at least. He gave a sense of hope. A sense of confidence that wouldn't last, but right now Theseus was willing to take anything that he could get. If this comment would help his brother to relax, he would say it. 

"Could I have some paper?" Newt asked. Theseus summoned some over, handing it over to Newt and watching as he began to scribble notes, one of the hippogriffs nuzzling at his shoulder.  
"I am going to make dinner." Theseus said softly. "I'll be back soon, you hear me?"  
Newt nodded, reaching up to pat his hand over the hippogriff's beak.   
"Do you think regional data about where they would live would help?" Newt asked. Theseus nodded quickly, and Newt continued to be making his notes.

He made Newt's favourite meal from their childhood, knowing he needed the comfort it might bring. As he cooked he continued to murmur different ideas to himself. He wanted to help Newt, but he didn't know how he could do it. His first thought was to compose a howler to Hogwarts _  
Dear Professor Black, you are a monster. You sentence my brother to expulsion because you don't want to prosecute a Lestrange. My brother is a better man than you can ever be, and the auror department will be thoroughly investigating everything that you have ever done. And when we find your sins, we will chase you and hound you for the rest of your days. Yours truthfully, Theseus Scamander_. It would be satisfying beyond belief. But he knew that it wouldn't work out.

He finished preparing the meals, and plated them up, walking out to the stables. He sat down opposite Newt, and handed over Newt's meal. Newt devoured it hungrily, and then looked up at him.  
"You look angry." Newt whispered.   
"I am." Theseus swallowed. "But not at you. I am never..." He sighed and swallowed. "I am never angry with you."  
"Thank you." Newt whispered. He was curled up small, reaching out to pat the hippogriff. The hippogriff nudged Newt softly in the shoulder. Theseus smiled a little, gazing at the page of notes that Newt had already made. Newt shrugged.  
"I'm trying to argue with the classification system." He mumbled. "It's not right."  
"Should we go up to bed?" Theseus asked. "You must have been tired after everything today, and you can do whatever you want later. Your notes will still be there in the morning..."

Newt nodded, hesitating for a moment by the door to the stable.   
"Can... Can I stay in your bed tonight?" Newt whispered. This was what had happened when he was younger. When he had been upset because of what the other children said, he would climb in with Theseus, wrapping his arms around Theseus's chest and humming until he fell asleep. It had been a security then. It could be the same now.

"Of course." Theseus murmured. "Are there any... any creatures you brought home with you?"  
"A couple." Newt admitted, glancing towards his suitcase. He had been working on designing space for them. "There's a niffler, and a couple of puffskeins, a kneazle..." He shrugged. "That's all. That is all... all that I have." He closed his eyes. "There were a few others I wanted but these were the only ones I could move with me. The houselves are caring for the rest."

Theseus decided that for today he didn't want to talk about what else there might be, what else Newt would eventually bring home. He knew Newt well enough to know that he might have an awful lot of creatures. For now, those would be enough. He smiled fondly, reaching out to stroke his brother's hair.   
"They can join us today if you want."  
Newt blinked, his face lighting up, and he opened his suitcase, pulling out the four beasts from a space that looked far too small for them. Newt led the small group up to Theseus's bedroom, stopping in his own to change into a set of yellow and black pyjamas. Theseus relaxed in bed, and smiled as Newt climbed in, the creatures alongside them. Newt took a couple of slow breaths, seeming to calm down. He gazed up at Theseus.  
"Are you angry at me?"  
"Not at you." Theseus promised, and Newt shivered.

"I thought... I know you did so well with school. You had done so well and made friends with so many students..." He swallowed. "I didn't make any human friends though..."  
"You did..." Theseus objected. "You told me all kinds of names whenever I asked."  
"They were the house elves." Newt murmured. "Good friends. I promised I'd write."

Theseus held him closer.  
"I'm impressed." He said softly. "I wanted you to do well at Hogwarts Newt. Of course I did. But it... it wasn't the reason, you know? I would be proud however you did, I just wanted you to be happy. I thought you would be."  
"It'll be okay, won't it?"  
"I promise it will be." Theseus agreed, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close until Newt had fallen asleep. He laid awake, worrying a little, but hoping. His brother was smart. If anyone could survive this, it would be Newt.


End file.
